Venky's half-time disappearing act does little to support Kean as Blackburn fans show ire at Wigan

Blackburn's players may believe in sticking at it until the final whistle, but it is a measure of the chaos engulfing Ewood Park that others evidently do not. The club’s owners, for instance.

Venky's have been pilloried by despairing Blackburn followers, for their continuing support of manager Steve Kean, and there is unlikely to be any let-up, after the latest baffling episode in their brief but bizarre tenure.

After arriving in London on the morning of their team’s game at Wigan, they chartered a flight to nearby Blackpool airport and were chauffeur-driven the rest of the way to the DW Stadium.

If it was intended as backing for Kean, a show of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their under-fire manager, the impression did not last long.

We are not amused: Balaji Rao (left) and Venkatesh Rao at the DW Stadium

Evidently ‘spooked’ by a barrage of abuse from fans who spotted them entering the ground, they failed to reappear for the second half, leaving a row of directors’ box seats conspicuously empty for the remainder of their side’s desperate battle to prevent Wigan overtaking them at the foot of the table.

Kean did his best to play down the disappearing act and suggested they may simply have chosen to escape the cold by watching the second half in an executive box.

It sounded plausible enough but merely revealed how even the manager had been left in the dark over his bosses’ movements.

The Venky's party had been seen filing out of the main entrance and into their fleet of limousines, with Kean’s half-time team talk barely underway. By the time Yakubu slotted home a 98th-minute point-saving penalty, after keeper Paul Robinson was fouled trying to get his head to a corner, they were settling into their seats at Blackpool airport.

Spelling it out: Blackburn fans make their feelings known

Kean doubtless passed up the opportunity to demand an explanation, when he met them in Manchester for talks over transfer funds, but he must be close to despair at the disarray all around him.

How owners of a club could go to the trouble and expense of travelling halfway round the world for a game, and decide to clear off after 45 minutes, takes some working out. In their absence, Kean had to contend with chants for his, and their, departure, but he did his best to put on a brave face.

‘I don’t know what happened with the owners at half-time, but I’m hoping they disappeared into an executive box to keep warm,’ he said.

‘We’ll have a chat in Manchester tomorrow about funding. We need to get players out of the treatment room, so we will discuss strengthening the squad. When the window opens, I’m sure we’ll have funds.’